Apparatus for measuring granular materials volumetrically



J. E. LEA

Aug. 26, 1930.

APPARATUS FOR MEASURING GRANUIJAH MATERIALS VOLUMETRICALLY 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 4, 1923 Aug. 26, 1930. J. E. LEA 1,773,816

APPARATUS FOR MEASURING GRANULAR MATERIALS VOLU'ETRICALLY Filed May 4,1923 I5 Sheets-Sheet 2 I; mmw 1 J. E. LEA

Aug. 26, 1930.

APPARATUS FOR MEASURING GRANULAR MATERIALS VOLUMETRICALLY Filed May 4,1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 operate however s a-pparat ing element, whi

Patented Aug. 26, 1930 JAMES EDWARD LEA, OF MANCHESTER, ENGLANDAPPARATUS" FOR MEASURING GRANULAR MATERIALS VOLUMETRICALLY Applicationfiled May 4, 1923, Serial No. 636,761, and in Great Britain July 28,1922.

materials volumetrically, its

in g to provide measuring main object bemeans which will mall thequantity of material to be measured, and which will automatically ceaseto measure when no inaterlal is passing through the apparatus.

According to the invention us coinprisesan endless belt conveyor on towhich the material to placed, either from a hopper hand shovelling.prises an appliance,

ch is free to ride or the improved be measured is or chute, or by Saidapparatus also comconstituting a measuron tlie top surface of the layerof granular material while said material is being moved forward by theconveyor, and which, when no material is passing, automatically comes to20 rest on the conveyor.

The measuring element and the conveyor are operatively connected to'aninstrument for indicating and/or recordi ng the measurement of thematerial, such instrument being preferably iny prior of the kind formingthe subject of Patent No. 1,293,130.

The conveyor is coupled to the toothed integrating drumand the saidmeasuring element is operatively connected to the sliding pinion of the30 instrument.

By employing ameasuringelement'free to act by gravity and to rise andfall with variations in the thickness of'tlie layer of granular materialbeing moved forward by the conveyor,

the appartus continues to me the layer of materialllOl'IllEllthlCkllGSS, and furthe asure even after has become less thanthe rmore, when no material is passing it entirely ceases to measureeven though the conveyor may continue in motion.

The invention will be more particularly describedby the aid of theaccompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 1s a side'elevationof' apparatusconstructed according to the invention for measthe conveyor slatsremoved.

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of Figure 1 Fig. at showsindctail modified means of imparting movement to the meter pinion from themeasuring element.

Fig. i is adetail view partlyin section showing one end' of a modifiedform of the apparatus.

Fig. G is a cross-sectional elevation on the line 6, 6 Figure 5.

Fig. 7 shows a form-of the measuring appliance shown applied toanexisting endless band conveyor.

In carrying out the invention, as illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 theimproved machine comprises two rectangular side frames or plates at, a,lying at a distance apart, and firmly connected one to the other by stayrods b. Arranged between said plates is an endless belt'conveyor 0, thedrums or wheeled carrying the conveyor being mounted on shafts c, fwhich have their bearings in the side plates at, or in bosses fittedthereto, one near each end. The side frainesextend well above the topface of the conveyor, and the top surface of the conveyor andthe sideframes lie at right angles fthereby forming an open trough or channel.

Below the upper half of" the belt or conveyor 0 isa rigid support g'uponwhich the conveyor may slide so as to prevent the con veyor sagging.

Above the conveyor 0, and between the side frames a near oneend, are twotransverse partitions h and 2' respectively see Figure 3, which, inconjunction with the said side frames, form a hopper. The partition h isinclined and has its lower edge lying close to the upper face of theconveyor 0 and the other partition 2' is vertical with its lower edgelying at a suitable distance above the upper face of the conveyor, inorder to provide an orifice between itself'and the conveyor for thegranular material to pass through when carriedfor- On the outlet side ofthe hopper and at any distance therefrom is arranged the sale arematerial is passing or when the hopper empty, but which 'aised by thenmterial vhcn any is carried forward by the conveyor from the hopper.

=l- 'Lg' appliance consists of a metal )l' vithout a raller at its loweron a cross shaft Z at its upper :ieingr free to swine; or move inindicated in dotted lines) the thiclm c the layer of material on theconveyor 0 increases decreases, ant. its lower e e being adapet to reston the corn vevora. ownwhenn i a material passing. The vertical edges orthe n'ieasuring elemen li lies close to and aarallel with the of theside frames (4, and the bottom of the appliance lies parallel with theurtace of the conveyor 0. Upon one side the machine is mounted theinstrument for indicating or/ and recording the quantity of materialthat may pass through the machine. An instrument in. made according tomy former Patent 1T0. 1,233 130 being shown. The toothed. drum not shownon the instrument m is geared to th shaft c of the conveyor by means ofthe chair 0 and the sliding" pinion is controlled by the aforesaidmeasuring appliance is.

il'heu the appliance has an angular or swinging movement abou ihorizontal axle, the movement may etransmitted to the said pinion shown,through a cam 71- secured to the axle Z of the plate 7.: and acting upona sliding rod 0, this latter being held in yielding (1 utact with theedge of this cam by a i k 0, and being connected by a cord 7) to the rodcarrying the pinion not shown. cam n is a contour which mparts to 0 anendwise movement directly prol the ver al movement of the '1 rue i'loatplate 1 1i above the conr'chness of the layer of matootl drum of the rcurve" corot flow "tor dii'f rent degrees or ope nun tor stinmein pillcolicthe material, the intly indicate the total passed through themachine. he cam, a, a toothed wheel (7 may be u. meshing with a carriedby the slide rod 0, in which the curve of the toothed drum of "he inmeit will be plotted to suit the variations tie rate oi t materialrelatively to the angular movements of the measuring apliance instead ofthe vertical movements of edge. once the weight and friction of the e onthe material or to make it more he in action. it may be provided wither-balance weight.

Figure 1 The conveyor 0 may be made of l alata or other fibrousmaterial, or it may be made of links or chains and metal slats as shown,the edges of the slats when horizontal, abutting or overlapping.

The means g for supper mg the upper part of the conveyor to prevensagging may consist of channel iron bars arranged one below ch edge oithe conveyo and one below the centre of the conveyor, t 1e seve all barsbeing IIP EOl'tQtl by cross bars connected to the side frames.

In the example shown in Figures 5 and 6 the measuring appl ance cpartakes of the term of a rectangular plate r trame equal in width tothe conveyor and arranged to move freely in vertical guides and havingat its lower edge a roller The plate k and roller 70 rise as the layerof grandular material passes below them, or descend by gran thethickness of the layer of material diminishes and reaching its lowestpoint when no mate al is passing. In this case the cord j) is "acued toa drum 7* on a spindle s wh pinio. s is attached and which meshes l: asecured to the pl: to 3 so the t ter rises and falls rotary novem ted tothe drum neter-pinion through no. last examples may be inclined ifdesired the movement of the plate may be transmitted to the sli pinionoil the indicating instrument by means of a cord or chain, worle mearound or over guide pulleys.

For convenienc in moving it from place to place the machine may bemounted on wheels t. On one size of the machine suitable for dealingwith 20 tons of coal per hour, the side frames will be about 5 long by 3(3 high. For enabling the machine to be driven by motive power, a wormwheel a will be titted to one of the conveyor shafts, and in a bracketon the side frame will be. a short shaft fitted with a worm 1: whichmeshes with the worm wheel 2. said shaft also being fitted with a beltpulley or chain heel 162.

To vary the rate of delivery of the machine, the upward movements of thesaid measuring appliance may be limited. by means say of a pin fittedinto one or other of a .eries of holes in a tired quadrant bracket.

ll hilst preferring" to employ t measuring appliance free to ride orfloat on the granular material passing through the machine and so thatthe machine will not register when 125 empty, it will be obvious that aregulatable appliance may be employed, that is to say, the appliance maybe adjusted to 'arious set positions. In this case, the appliance may becombined with the hopper. 1

li il To allow for adjustment of the conveyor, the conveyor shaft at oneend of the machine is mounted in slide bearings, capable of beingregulated by screws.

Apparatus for indicating the rate of flow of the material at any momentthrough the machine may also be applied as indicated in Figure l, suchapparatus being preferably of the kind forming the subject of my priorapplication for Patent in Great Britain No. 24,087/21.

In Figure 7 the improved measuring app aratus is shown applied to anexisting conveyor o. In this case a frame w, in the form of a metalplate is provided, formed with. an opening 10 through which the conveyor4; passes, said. plate being secured in position, transversely of theconveyor by angle-iron brackets Q02.

Mounted on the frame 11) is the measuring appliance k in the form of arectangular plate the lower part of which is equal in width to theconveyor and arranged to move freely in vertical guides 10 and having atits lo ver edge the roller The plate 70 is counterbalanced by the weighta: so that said plate together with the rollers [a freely rise and fallaccording to the thickness of the layer of material passing below thesame on the cenvcyor. The cord p attached to the sliding pinion :2 ofthe recording instrument 1 carried by the frame 10 is attached to saidplate 70 an d the toothed drum 3 of said instrument is geared to anextension '0 of the shaft 41 of the conveyor 1; by means of the chain 2.

The improved apparatus (conveyor and measuring element) will usually beenclosed between vertical side cheeks, whereby the orifice through whichthe material has to pass will be of fixed or regular cross section.Further, the maximum thickness of the layer of granular material willusually be de termined by the door or regulator of the hop per as thematerial passes therefrom. \Vhere no hopper is used a special device maybe provided to level down the material, prior to passing below themeasuring element.

To reduce friction and to afford a more sensitive action, the measuringelement may in all cases be counter-weighted. Countra-wise, themeasuring element (especially when in the form of a roller) may beweighted in order to level down the granular material.

hen used alone, that is, apart from a hopper with door or sluice, theimproved measuring element may be furnished with means, such as aperforated quadrant and loose pin or peg, whereby the rise of theelement may be limited to a predetermined height.

WVhat I claim is:

In apparatus for the continuous volumetric measurement of solids ingranular form, an endless conveyor composed of flat bars and chains,each bar being secured to one of the chain links, toothed wheels withwhich the chains engage, and axles for the wheels, side plates in whichthe axles arejournaled,the plates extending high above the wheels, rodsconnecting and positioning the plates, a fixed inclined cross platebetween the side plates and near to one end, its lower edge lying closeto the top face of the conveyor bars, a further and vertical cross-platebetween the side plates, and in conjunction with the inclined plate andside plates, forming a hopper, the lower edge of the vertical platelying at a distance away from the top surface of the conveyor bars,means for regulating the height of said vertical cross plate, a shaftextending from side plate to side plate and journaled therein, a swingplate connected to such shaft and adapted when vertical almost to touchthe conveyor plates, an integrating instrument secured to the exteriorface of one of the side plates, said instrument comprising wheels markedin terms of weight, an endless chain for driving one main element ofsaid instrument from one of the conveyor wheel axles, a cam keyed to theshaft carrying the swing plate, a spring pressed sliding rod and roller,the latter engaging the periphery cf the cam, means for supporting therod, and means for conveying the movements of the rod to the other mainelement of the said instrument, the presence of a layer of granularmaterial on the conveyor, and the movement of same with the conveyor,causing angular movement of the swing plate and cam, and endwisemovement in one direction of the sliding rod, the cam being of such acontour that the movements of the sliding rod are directly proportionalto the volumetric measurement of the layer of material as it movesforward with the conveyor, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JAMES EDlVARD LEA.

